Windows Update Standalone Installer Error

I had to install PowerShell 3.0 on my Windows 7 SP1 VMware Fusion 8.5 VM earlier today and grabbed the installer from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34595. The download was done from Chrome on my Mac and saved to my Mac’s Downloads folder.

I have Shared Folders running in Fusion so I have direct access to the Downloads folder from Windows via the Z:\ drive presented to Windows.

When I ran the .msu file from z:\downloads I would receive an error which said:

Installer encountered an error: 0x80070003
The system cannot find the path specified.

The fix is to copy the .msu file to a VMDK based disk in the VM and run it again.

 

 

Internet Performance Measurement Tools

This post contains a catalogue of useful Internet performance testing tools.

ICSI Netalyzr

http://netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/cli.html

sivel/speedtest-cli: Command line interface for testing internet bandwidth using speedtest.net

A nifty tool for the CLI jockeys to test the internet performance of their machine.

speedtest-cli – Command line interface for testing internet bandwidth using speedtest.net

Source: sivel/speedtest-cli: Command line interface for testing internet bandwidth using speedtest.net

Securing the Internet of Things | Homeland Security

DHS has released their v1.0 Security Principles for the IoT.

The growth of network-connected devices, systems and services comprising the Internet of Things (IoT) provides efficiencies and personalization of experience that is attractive to both manufacturers and consumers.

Source: Securing the Internet of Things | Homeland Security

AWS-CLI Profile Management Made Easy – Jayway

Ive been looking for a simple widget to let me quickly configure my AWS CLI profile. No need to look any further.

. ~/._awsAliasesalias awsall=”_awsListAll”alias awsp=”_awsSwitchProfile”alias awswho=”aws configure list”

Source: AWS-CLI Profile Management Made Easy – Jayway

Finding which proxy is used by MacOS when autoconfiguration is used.

Problem: I wanted to know what proxy my Mac was using for Internet access.

The advanced settings in the Network cdev had Proxies set to “Auto Proxy Discovery” however I could not find a way to make my Mac tell me what proxy servers it had discovered and was using.

Solution: Chrome has a nifty command that will cause it to output its proxy configuration. Enter the following into the address bar.

chrome://net-internals/#proxy

Cat5 vs Cat6 Cable: What Are The Differences – FireFold

Saving this one for posterity. I’ve always meant to find something that quickly and easily lets me see the difference. Here it is.

Learn the difference between Cat5 vs Cat6 cables at FireFold Blog. Which cable should you choose for your network? Tested speeds and crosstalk details.

Source: Cat5 vs Cat6 Cable: What Are The Differences – FireFold

Combining PTP with NTP to Get the Best of Both Worlds – Red Hat Enterprise Linux Blog

There are two supported protocols in Red Hat Enterprise Linux for synchronization of computer clocks over a network. The older and more well-known protocol is the Network Time Protocol (NTP). In it…

Source: Combining PTP with NTP to Get the Best of Both Worlds – Red Hat Enterprise Linux Blog

 

How To Set Timezone and NTP Sync on Ubuntu [Quickstart] | DigitalOcean

It’s been a while since I got under the hood of a linux VM. Nice to see that timekeeping configuration has gotten simpler to implement and manage.

Setting your server’s clock and timezone properly is essential in ensuring the healthy operation of distributed systems and maintaining accurate log timestamps. This tutorial will show you how to configure NTP time synchronization and set the timezone

For brevity and ease of recollection in the future, the command is

timedatectl

Source: How To Set Timezone and NTP Sync on Ubuntu [Quickstart] | DigitalOcean

Also, http://blogging.dragon.org.uk/setting-up-ntp-on-ubuntu-14-04/ has a nifty command that useful for monitoring the status of ntpd on a machine.

watch ntpq -cpe -cas